Poster #7

Extreme environments as sources of fungal endophytes mitigating climate change impacts on crops in Mediterranean-type ecosystems
G. I. BALLESTEROS, K. K. NEWSHAM, I. S. ACUÑA-RODRÍGUEZ, C. ATALA, C. TORRES-DÍAZ, M. A. MOLINA-MONTENEGRO
Centre for Integrative Ecology, Biological Sciences Institute & Interdisciplinary Research Institute (I3), Talca University, Av. Lircay s/n, Talca, Chile

In Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs), climate change will curtail the ability to produce sufficient food, thus threatening global food security. Hence, improvements to crop production are urgently needed. In this study, we explored the possibility that fungal endophytes from extreme environments can be used to enhance crop yield, survival and tolerance of crops. Therefore, plants of lettuce, tomato and bell pepper were inoculated with up to six species of extremophile endophytic fungi, isolated from Atacama Desert, High Andes and Antarctica. Inoculated plants were exposed in the field for up to 120 days, for three years, to current climatic conditions or future climate scenarios, (increased drought, and soil salinization). Compared with uninoculated plants, yield and survival of inoculated crops increased by up to two-fold under future climate scenarios. These effects would be explained by an improvement in water balance, an increase in total phenols and proline concentrations, and a decrease in lipid peroxidation. Compared to a commercial inoculum, a mixed inoculum of six extremophile endophytes conferred the most beneficial effects on crop performance. This suggests that consortia of different micro-organisms strains, isolated from extreme environments, are a promising approach to sustain or enhance crop production in MTEs exposed to rapid climate change.